Gangsta Granny is a British comedy-drama television film based on David Walliams' children's comedy fiction book of the same name. The adaptation is by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley. The first broadcast was on BBC One on 26 December 2013 at 6.05pm.
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Plot
Set in Basildon, the film centres around Ben (played by Reece Buttery), an 11-year-old boy who visits his paternal grandmother's (Julia McKenzie) house every Friday whilst his parents go out dancing. Ben dislikes the weekly visits as he finds Granny, who has an obsession with cabbage products, boring. After Ben finds a large box of jewellery, Granny reveals herself to have been an international jewel thief known as the 'Black Cat' involved in many high-profile heists during her youth but she tells Ben that she was never able to raid the Crown Jewels, kept in the Tower of London. This prompts Ben, who has a passion for plumbing, to devise a plan to raid the Tower. Granny agrees to go along with Ben's plans.
At the same time, Ben's parents Mike (David Walliams) and Linda (Miranda Hart), who are dance fanatics and unaware of Ben's passion for plumbing, intend to enrol Ben into a ballroom dancing competition as a partner to Florence (India Ria Amarteifio). Granny's local neighbours, Mr Parker (Rob Brydon) and his son (George Hill), watch over Ben's movements to and from Granny's house and suspect that the duo is up to no good.
Granny suffers a fall and is found to have a terminal illness. Ben helps her escape from the hospital and the plan for the heist continues. On the day of the heist, he forgets the competition and, not having practised once with Florence, who condemns him to dance alone at the last minute, Ben embarrasses himself on the dance floor. Florence's mother, Kelly (Jocelyn Jee Esien), leads a mob against the family after Linda kisses the competition's host, Flavio Flavioli (Robbie Williams).
Following the debacle, Ben returns to his grandmother's house to continue with the heist. After Mr Parker fails to thwart the heist by tipping off a policeman (Steve Speirs), Ben and Granny are escorted by the police to the Tower. They gain access to the White Tower in which the Crown Jewels are kept through the complex's sewerage system and a diversion which unsettles the patrols of the Tower's Yeoman Warders. Once inside the White Tower, the duo is met by Queen Elizabeth II (played by Joanna Lumley) who pardons them with the message that young people should be more caring of the elderly. In front of the Queen, Granny reveals to Ben that the jewellery in her box is supposedly plastic and that she had made up her biography when she had realised how boring Ben thought she was.
Granny passes away and the jewellery box is donated to charity. Ben reads at his local newsagent's that a jewellery box worth millions had been anonymously left at a charity shop. Granny's legacy is remembered, all the way through to Christmas.
Maps Gangsta Granny (film)
Cast
- Reece Buttery as Ben
- Julia McKenzie as Granny, Mike's mother and Ben's grandmother
- Joanna Lumley as Queen Elizabeth II
- David Walliams as Mike, Ben's father
- Miranda Hart as Linda, Ben's mother
- Rob Brydon as Mr Parker, a neighbour of Ben
- India Ria Amarteifio as Florence
- Robbie Williams as Flavio Flavioli, a dancer on Strictly Stars Dancing who hosts the junior dancing championship which Ben takes part in.
- Jocelyn Jee Esien as Kelly, Florence's mother
- Harish Patel as Raj, the newsagent
- George Hill as Terrence, Mr Parker's son and assistant
- Claudia Winkleman as herself
- Leo Wringer as Doctor Long
- Tim Frances as Doctor Edwards
- Russell-Leighton Dixon as Judge
- Steve Speirs as PC McClintock
- Patrick Brennan as Beefeater
- Timothy Bentinck as Chief Inspector
- Max Olesker as Policeman
Production
On 26 April 2013, the BBC announced that it had commissioned the adaptation for BBC One. It was commissioned by Danny Cohen, controller of BBC One, and Shane Allen, controller of comedy commissioning. Shane Allen said, "The story delivers on David's penchant for being outrageously funny, yet poignant and tender as well. This will be a wonderful family viewing treat for this Christmas and we're thrilled about seeing it make the journey from page to screen."
Gangsta Granny began filming on 28 October 2013. David Walliams said, "I am thrilled that we have such a stellar cast of comedy legends for Gangsta Granny. I can only apologise that I am in it too!" Mark Freeland, the controller of BBC comedy production for the BBC, said, "David asked us not to muck up his massively popular book on TV. So we cast him and then added some of the most-loved and wonderful comedy actors in the country. I hope it will be a very special Special."
References
External links
- Gangsta Granny at BBC Programmes
- Gangsta Granny on IMDb
- Gangsta Granny at Radio Times
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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